


Moving On

by lionessvalenti



Category: Fringe
Genre: F/M, Het, Non-Canon Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-10
Updated: 2012-04-10
Packaged: 2017-11-03 10:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/380257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Olivia wants Lincoln to stay the night. He might want to stay longer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moving On

**Author's Note:**

> Includes spoilers for "Everything in It's Right Place".

It wasn't something Lincoln had seen coming. He came to the other side more and more, but it hadn't been for her. Not at first. Or maybe it had been. However, the longer he spent with her, and now that he was in her apartment, in her _bed_ , it felt right.

Olivia walked back into the room wearing a white robe, her red hair swept over one shoulder. She grinned at him, this lopsided smile, and crawled across the bed to him. "I knew it was going to be good, but damn," she said, leaning over him. Her hair fell around his face, tickling his cheek. "It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?"

"That's what they say," he replied, sitting up on his elbows. He tilted his chin up and pressed his lips to hers.

She laughed against his mouth and pushed him back down onto the bed. She looked at him with a grin and shook her head. "That's so..."

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just without your glasses, it's.... it's nothing." She rolled off of him, her hair splaying across the pillow. "It's obvious and stupid, but you look like him."

"I see," Lincoln replied. He pushed the comforter back and sat up. He set his feet on the floor and took a breath. "I should go."

"Where are you going to go at this hour?" Olivia asked. "I thought you might like to stay the night. I want you to stay."

Lincoln grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and put them on. He kept his gaze on the wall as he said, "I understand that it's been difficult since you lost your partner. And it might be complicated having me around when I look exactly like him, but if this is an attempt to--"

"Wait, you think--" Olivia laughed, and he twisted at the waist to look at her. "It's not like that at all. It's weird. You look just like him, and that's why it's weird. Sometimes I see you and I think for a second that you are him. But you're not. I know you're not. You're totally different. For all those years that he and I worked together, and were best friends, but we never slept together. I don't think I ever even thought about it. And I've been thinking about you."

"Oh," Lincoln replied.

"Yeah. Oh." She grabbed his arm and tugged gently. "Come here."

He climbed back into the bed, laying his head back onto the pillow. He turned onto his side and looked at her. "I'm sorry."

Olivia ran her fingers through his hair. "I get it. I might have thought for a minute that you just wanted a replacement for your Olivia. And I've been there, done that. I'm not her and I'm not going to be her."

Lincoln dropped his gaze for a moment, and then glanced up at her. "In the spirit of honesty, I should admit that I did, at one time, have feelings for her. Nothing happened, it was never like that, but I did think... for a short amount of time."

"So, you're doing the thing you just accused me of doing," she replied, poking him in the chest. "That's an asshole move."

"Liv, I started coming here because there wasn't a place for me there. My partner made me a part of his family, and after he died, I tried to find a new family. And they... they were a family without me. So I had a decision to make. I could stay on the outside, or I could find something better. I decided to moved on."

"To the woman who looks exactly like the last woman you had feelings for."

Lincoln laughed in disbelief. How had he walked right into that corner? "I'm not expecting to win this one. I'm hoping when you kick me out, you let me get dressed first. But while you may look like the other Olivia, you're so different. Honestly, the longer I spend with you, the more I forget what she looks like, if that makes sense."

"I could say the exact same thing about you and my Lincoln. Nothing alike." She gave him a pointed look, and Lincoln realized that that there was only one way to get out of this one: admit defeat.

"Fine, fine," he replied, holding up a hand in surrender. "You got me, I had a hypocritical moment. You win."

"I do love winning," she said with a grin. "And I like you, Lincoln. Just don't do it again."

"I won't." He brought his hand down to her cheek. "And I didn't move onto you. I moved on -- or, I'm trying to move onto this world. You were just here and this happened."

Olivia blinked at him. "You're thinking about... defecting?"

Lincoln shrugged awkwardly as he pulled his hand away. "Maybe. I don't know. I'm not even sure what it would take. I don't know what the protocols for moving to a different universe are. There's probably a lot of paperwork, and I guess I'd have to get a new driver's license."

She started laughing. "I don't know what the protocols are either. You might be the first person to ever officially move to a new world. But you wouldn't need a driver's license, you'd need a Show-Me."

"Yes, that's right. That's what I need.," he replied with a smile. "If this is something... that you'd want."

She narrowed her eyes, confused. "Are you... doing this for me?"

He opened his mouth for a moment before he managed to get his words out. "No, it's for me. It's something I think I want to do. I mean, I wouldn't move into your universe if you didn't want me here." He waited for a response, but she continued staring at him. "You don't have to decide now. We'd have to figure out those protocols first."

"Well," she slowly said with a raised eyebrows, "cross-dimensional relationships do seem like they'd be difficult to maintain."

"Are we in a relationship now?" Lincoln asked, a smile spreading across his face. He knew she hadn't meant to let the R-word slip. It'd just been sex, hadn't it? But then again, she wanted him to stay the night and he wanted to live on her side of the bridge. Those things had to count for something.

Olivia's face flushed. He'd never seen her blush, no matter what dirty thing she suggested that would cause his face to heat up. She did it just to get that reaction out of him. He liked seeing her get a little flustered for once.

"I don't know," she said, "are we? Are you my boyfriend?"

"I don't know, am I?" He grinned at her and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. "We can figure that out later, if we want to... figure that out."

She leaned over and kissed him. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked, squeezing his hand. "There's got to be something over there that you'd miss. People. Places. I don't even live there and I miss the coffee."

He laughed, but his smile faded as he studied her face. "That world doesn't need Lincoln Lee, not anymore. Before he died, your Lincoln told me that this world wouldn't survive without him. And I'm not saying that I can do what he did, and certainly not the way he did it, but maybe this world needs me more."

Olivia wound her leg around his. Her eyes glowed as she drew closer to him. "You know, Lincoln, might be right."


End file.
